Page 30 of 14 Night Tryst

We get to the venue forty minutes before the investors are due to arrive. I leave Logan at the bar to enjoy his brandy while I go off and speak to the chef. My nerves are tightly bunched deep in my belly at the thought of something going wrong, or something being missed. If this goes horribly wrong, Suzan will not only fire me, but she will also ensure everyone in the event planning business will never work with me again.

Logan’s investors arrive at seven thirty. I greet and guide them up to the terrace where they will have their pre-dinner drinks and canapés.

I hand a young waitress a tray of the smoked salmon canapés, “Here, circulate, I want every glass full and every mouth chewing. Do not come back until the tray is empty.” She nods and I inwardly pray she understands me as she wanders over toward the investors idly chatting.

Standing by the side of the glass door I discreetly observe Logan conversing with two older gentlemen. My stomach does a somersault when his eyes veer amidst his conversation and find mine watching him. The corner of his lip lifts into a smirk before he turns his attention back to his guests.

The rest of the evening goes off without a hitch. Every single person croons about how incredible the evening—especially the food—is. The head chef even stepped out of the kitchen to check in on them which I think was a nice touch given how busy the restaurant is.

“Chef, thank you so much, honestly you and your team were beyond incredible tonight, and the food was simply divine.” I gush, handing him the signed cheque.

“You’re very welcome, Miss West. It was a pleasure meeting and working with you. Please do ensure you come and visit us again when you’re next in the city.” Chef says, lifting my hand to his lips and brushing a kiss over my knuckles.

“I must be honest; I’ve travelled to many cities growing up and none of them have captured my heart like Istanbul has.” I explain and he chuckles, pressing his hand to his chest and bowing his head.

“Ah, yes, Istanbul has a way of doing that. Even after you leave, a little piece of your heart will always belong to this majestic city.” He asserts, handing me a steaming cup of Turkish coffee with a piece of Baklava. “Please, sit and enjoy while my team finish cleaning up. You’ve been on your feet all evening and I imagine it’s not very comfortable in those shoes.” He adds, his emerald like green eyes glancing down at my black stilettos.

I mean, he's not wrong, these shoes are killing my feet one tiny toe at a time. The balls of my feet are throbbing unpleasantly, so I gratefully accept his offer and take the small cup of coffee and treat and sit on the empty table. “Thank you again, Chef.” With a warm smile he nods and walks back towards his kitchen, speaking to his team in Turkish and gesturing to the tables that are still strewn with dirty glasses as he passes by them.

I take a sip of the coffee and exhale after I swallow, savoring the delicious after taste. All the tension I’ve been feeling since I agreed to take on this event leaves my body, and it feels like a ton has been lifted.

We still have the boat tour of the Bosphorus, but that’s not really something I need to overlook. I’ve arranged the cars that will take everyone to the marina. The company that provides the tour handles everything else, so I’m pretty much done for the night and really looking forward to crawling into that giant bed and passing out for like a year.

Staring into my almost empty coffee cup I sigh sullenly when it hits me that I only have forty-eight hours left with Logan.

“Miss, would you like me to read your fortune?” A feminine voice starts me from my thoughts, and I look up to find one of the waitresses that helped with the event standing over me. I look down at the small coffee cup with a frown.

“My fortune?”

“Yes, it is tradition.” I chuckle and gesture for her to join me in the empty chair opposite. I’m not very spiritual and have never really bought into the whole fortune telling ballyhoo. It’s always the same spiel.

I’ve got some time to kill, so why the hell not. “Oh, well in that case, please, go ahead and tell me what my future has in store for me.”

“First you must put the little plate on top, spin three times, and make a wish before you turn it over.”

Okay.

I follow her directions and carefully place the saucer on top of the cup and pick it up. Closing my eyes, I make my wish and spin it three times. Opening my eyes again my gaze darts warily between the cup and the girl. I’m concerned this coffee will spill all over me the second I flip it over.

“Hold tight and turn fast.” She instructs me, demonstrating the motion with her hands. I do as she advises and thankfully the coffee stays in the cup.

Thank you, gravity.

“What now?” I ask her curiously and she chuckles, patting my shoulder with her hand.

“Now we wait five minutes.” Wait for what exactly? My fortune tobrew?

I can feel the bemused look on my face but opt for nodding while she pulls the chair out and sits with me. I find out her name is Arzu, she moved over from Mersin two years ago to study journalism and media at Istanbul University. Even with the distinct Turkish accent which makes it a little difficult to understand her, her English is actually pretty darn good.

We make idle chit chat while we wait for whatever magic is supposedly happening inside that small cup. “Okay, ready?” she asks after a couple of minutes.

I bite back the snarky remark and smile, feigning excitement. I watch her lift the coffee up and drain the liquid before she turns it over and looks inside. There’s a small chuck of coffee grains sitting on the saucer. “Oh, wow, this is beautiful fortune.” She gushes grinning at me. “You have a clean and pure heart, Miss,” she says, rotating the cup slowly as she stares into it like it’s a damn crystal ball. “I see a number, 9. Come, see here.” I lean over and look into the cup when she points at it and see the coffee grain has indeed formed into the number 9.

“Oh yeah, wow, look at that.”

Huh. That’s my lucky number.

“Something good will happen for you, it could be in nine hours, nine days or nine months from now, but it will be something that makes you very happy. I also see a long path here with a heart at the end, you see. This is your journey to find your one true love, but it seems it’s going to be a very, how would you say… uhm not easy, with challenge.”

---